A large banner to the left of Mary Graft reads Co-Op Program in bold black letters as she asks her third hour class, “What job would you love to be doing by age 26 or 28, day in, day out?”

Each year, her students face this question head-on as they spend time exploring the job market and planning for a future career. Among the many projects they are responsible for, one stands out from the rest: the job shadow.

What exactly is life like as a nurse, an architect, an engineer, an accountant? Co-Op students know that the only way to find out is to become one for a day. They are excused from school in order to take an exclusive field trip with someone related to an identified career cluster.

The clusters are groupings of different occupations under a specific title – such as human services, manufacturing, health science, and more – based on commonalities. This allows students to learn more about the industry they hope to pursue and thus makes the opportunity truly worthwhile.

As the semester comes to an end, students have completed their first job shadow and must now share their findings with the class through a PowerPoint presentation.

“A really good job shadow presentation [will have the other kids] sit here and say ‘Oh, I’ve never seen the inside of a fire department,’” said Graft.

Well, Senior Nick Ruggiero certainly has, and not only that; he was lucky enough to visit the Huntley Fire Department on the day of an actual fire, the first one in three years. After observing firefighters dress in less than a minute, he hopped into the ambulance and headed to the scene. Ruggiero recalls how the firefighters “forgot about the job shadow and just went to work.”

It’s safe to say Ruggiero’s thrilling experience could not have been matched by any other school project. Still, job shadows do not merely sugarcoat the best part of a career.

“It’s a student’s way to spend time with somebody who is in a professional job and see the good, the bad, and the ugly about the job,” said Graft.

The ugly did not hide from senior Amanda Flight when she shadowed her neighbor Tammy Condon, a probation office whose work includes monitoring federal offenders, overlooking rehabilitation, assisting with court deadlines, and ensuring that all terms of the probation are met.

At the office, Flight sat in on three private client meetings, observing how Condon dealt with a cocaine addict, a child abuser, and a drug dealer. Admitting that it was “kind of scary” at times, Flight learned that communication skills and the ability to deal with stress are a must if she wants to become a probation officer herself.

“I was kind of on the fence about it,” said Flight. “I was thinking about being a police officer.”

However, after going on the job shadow, Flight is convinced she wants to attend NIU, get her master’s degree, and become a federal probation officer like Condon.

“I know I want to help people out,” said Flight. “I think [being a probation officer] is rewarding, once you can see improvement.”

Senior Julia Sidor saw the reward on a different level when she shadowed a sales representative of SOS Technologies. It takes discipline to work by yourself, on your own time, with your own schedule; but Sidor can just imagine the satisfaction when at the end of the month, the paycheck in your hands is entirely self-earned.

Sidor spent the day driving from one hospital to the next, scrutinizing the business and persuasive strategies utilized in the marketing field. All at once, she saw “what’s boring, what’s fun, what’s hard.”

“I could read on the internet over and over again about being a sales representative…but you will never know what it’s actually like until you do go on a job shadow and witness it firsthand,” said Sidor.

Knowing she wants to enter the medical field and attend either Carthage or U of I, Sidor is still unsure whether to study medicine or pursue a career in pharmaceutical sales.

“The experience is so much different than what you have planned in your head,” said Sidor. “It’s better to experience it before you go to college for four years and realize that you don’t want to do it.”

To avoid this mistake, Sidor’s second semester job shadow will most likely be on a medical doctor, an experience that may just save her thousands of dollars on majoring in pre-med.

As the screen behind Ruggiero goes black, life as a firefighter is replaced by a look into life as a police officer. Another presentation designates another chance for Co-Op students to reconsider their futures and ultimately make the right choice.